u/hottakemushroom

Hi all!

I've had a quote for a solar installation with 19 455w panels, for an 8.645 kW total, a 10k Hanchu-ESS inverter and a 9.4kWh Hanchu battery. I'm happy with the prices I've been quoted, and the installer is a very well-rated local firm.

My energy use at home is currently very low - 2300kWh per year, although possibly more like 2500 as I've recently had a baby and have been running a tumble dryer and aircon a bit more than usual. I'm going to get an EV in the next month or so, which will likely bring my usage up to about 5000kWh per year.

Having looked at the installer's proposal, the 19 panel system will more than cover my usage from April to September and mostly cover my usage in Feb and October, leaving just the 4 darkest months with any significant shortfall in generation. They estimate it could do about 73% of my power needs for the year, which I'm very happy with.

However, I have the space to add about 9 more panels onto the North facing side of my roof (strictly speaking, it's about 25 degrees West of North). I've been quoted £2700 for those additional panels, with an estimated generation of around 1000-1300kWh per year. The installer said it probably wasn't worth it in terms of ROI.

However, a longer-term goal might be to install a heat pump (my house has horrendous insulation, so I need to think this one over very carefully, and probably do some work on the house first). Would that change the calculation at all? The heat pump would mainly run in winter, when the extra power generated would be at its lowest (my guess is as little as 1kWh per day in January, so barely worth it).

My gut says it's not worth it but this sub is full of people saying to max out roof space. What do you guys think?

Hi all!

I'm looking to move on from my beloved Toyota Aygo and get myself an EV. I'm getting solar panels installed which could to cut my fuel costs down to near 0, and I have a baby now, so need a car with just a little more room for stuff (although we've been managing fine with the Aygo, so I don't need anything huge!)

I have a few things I'm looking for, but I'm so new to EVs (and just not very informed about cars in general) that I'm getting a bit paralysed trying to make a decision! Any advice would be amazing!

My priorities are:

1 - Reliability

My Aygo only broke down once in ten years of driving up to 9000 miles per year. With how busy I am, this has been a dream! Is there anything in the EV world that can approach Toyota levels of reliability at the price range I'm looking at?

2 - Range

I do a 200 mile journey a few times a year to see family. I'm not overly worried about stopping off, but a motorway range over 200 miles would be a big bonus.

3 - Space

I've been looking at cars around the size of a Peugeot e208, or maybe Nissan Leaf. I really don't want anything too big, as most of my driving is urban commuting, and we generally pack light, even with

4 - Everything else

I'm not overly fussy about style, comfort, or anything else. To me, a car is just a chair on wheels. Comfort is nice to have, but whenever I end up with a fancy car on rental, I find "helpful" features borderline irritating!

Some cars I've considered so far are:

Peugeot e208 (seems perfect, but people on here say it has major issues with the AC breaking, which is expensive and time-consuming to fix.)

Nissan Leaf

Vauxhall Corsa

Kia Niro

Some of the MGs (I think it was the MG4?)